Indians pitcher Gavin Floyd to have elbow surgery

The Indians announced on Monday that Gavin Floyd will have surgery at the Cleveland Clinic on Tuesday to repair a stress fracture in his right elbow. It will be Floyd's third elbow surgery in less than two years.

Manager Terry Francona told reporters on Monday morning that he has not ruled Floyd out for the entire season, even though it appears that is likely the case. The only thing Francona is saying right now is he will miss a significant portion of the year.

Added Francona: "I think more importantly rather than talking in March whether he can pitch in August or September are getting him healthy so he can proceed with his career."

The Indians signed the right-hander to a one-year contract worth $4 million in December with another $6 million that could be earned via incentives.

Doctors Mark Schickendantz and Tom Graham will perform Tuesday's surgery.

In May of 2013, Floyd had Tommy John Surgery while with the White Sox. After making a comeback last year with the Braves, he made nine starts before fracturing the olecranon bone.

Prior to the setback, Floyd had gone 2-2 with a 2.65 ERA and had struck out 45 in 54 1/3 innings. Dr. David Altchek, who performed both surgeries, told Floyd that the fracture was a rarity, especially after having Tommy John surgery.

When they signed Floyd, the Indians had him projected to factor pretty high in the rotation with only one spot up for grabs in spring training. With last week's MRI revealing a recurrence of the injury, it opened another spot.

Corey Kluber, who will start on opening day, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer are safely in the rotation with T.J. House, Danny Salazar, Zach McAllister, Josh Tomlin and Bruce Chen in the mix. House appears to have the edge for one of the spots.